Paul comes to Town on Saturday 21st March 2020
Date: Thursday, 6th Feb 2020Stadium Artist unveils new Pars European trilogy at East End Park on Saturday 21st March in partnership with the Dunfermline Athletic Heritage Trust
Paul Town Stadium Artist is coming to East End Park on Saturday 21st March as Dunfermline take on Greenock Morton on 21st March to unveil a new trilogy of paintings telling the story of the Pars greatest European ties.
The original artwork will be on display in the Purvis Suite, with a public viewing available between 11am-12noon. Jim Leishman will also have Paul up to discuss the pieces with our guests in hospitality along side some of the players who took part in these games.
Paul is no stranger to East End Park. It’s only 3 years ago that the Bradford born stadium artist visited Dunfermline to present a portrait to the club commissioned by Pars fanatic Kenny Mitchell. This enabled Paul to build up a reputation for his work amongst Pars supporters bringing more commissions to paint our lovable ground from various angles over a selection of decades.
Paul’s fascination with football stadiums dates back almost 40 years when he first read the football grounds book written by Simon Ingles. A few years on Paul’s life took a twist he’d rather forget, however the experiences of escaping the Valley Parade Fire disaster alongside his dad Barry, left emotional scars which are embedded within to this day.
Paul said “ I’ve struggled to come to terms with what happened nearly 35 years ago. Yes me and dad we’re lucky to escape within seconds of something more serious, but seeing what I saw as a naive teenager will live with me forever. In later life I needed an hobby to take my mind off things as I’d become unwell. I turned to Art as I’d always been interested in the subject quite passionately. My parents had gifted me a set of artists paints for Christmas so the most natural thing for me to paint was a football stadium”
Through social media outlets orders and commissioned from all parts of the uk started to flood in, so much so Paul broke away from his job in Construction to become a full-time artist just 3 years later. Paul’s early works were talked about with great similarities to LS Lowry as they had a real northern flavour in both content and colour. Paul is a product of his early life and upbringing working within and around the cities of his industrial homeland.
“The perfect stadium portrait for me is when I can bring the external landscape into view. If I can paint a mill or a chimney in the distance it gives me so much more pleasure as it reminds me of my youth”
Paul’s unique story and skills have seen him gain a valuable client list on a global scale with his original oils hanging in homes in USA, Australia, the Middle East and of course the European Continent. However Paul has a huge interest in the Scottish football stadiums through his great interest in the works of Scot stadium architect Archibald Leitch.
“Some people have football heroes, I have a stadium architect haha. I know it sounds strange but the guy was and still is a legend and his work gave me huge inspirations to try and paint football stadiums as well as he built them”
Paul’s forthcoming visit to East End Park will be his second to Scotland in just a few months. In December Paul launched his Hampden Park trilogy exhibition at the national stadium. Paul’s close friends and Pars fans Kenny McClachlan and Kenny Mitchell we’re present which is where the idea of the Pars European Trilogy exhibition was born. Paul will be signing prints of the trilogy’s on the day within the stadium and more than welcomes questions about his work and of course the Trilogy.
Prints will be on sale during the exhibition and they can be signed by Paul personally along side members of the team who played in the European ties. The respective games Prints will be £25 each however if all three are purchased then they will be £67.50. Profits from the prints will go to the Dunfermline Athletic Heritage Trust.
They can be pre-ordered by contacting Kenny Mclachlan on Kenny.mclachlan7@googlemail.com.
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